Patriots' day once again

AFC title game next after second win over Texans

New York Times

Published 11:04 pm, Sunday, January 13, 2013

Photo: Elise Amendola

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New England Patriots running back Shane Vereen (34) celebrates his eight-yard touchdown pass during the first half of an AFC divisional playoff NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013. Right is Michael Hoomanawanui. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) less

New England Patriots running back Shane Vereen (34) celebrates his eight-yard touchdown pass during the first half of an AFC divisional playoff NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Foxborough, Mass., ... more

Photo: Elise Amendola

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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passes during the first half of an AFC divisional playoff NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) less

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passes during the first half of an AFC divisional playoff NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Stephan ... more

Photo: Stephan Savoia

Patriots' day once again

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — There were still 20 minutes of football to be played at Gillette Stadium on Sunday when the game ended. Exploding fireworks, euphoria in the stands, all zeros on the clock — the confirmation of it all would come soon enough, and indeed it did.

But only after a sense of finality engulfed the crowd, only after a defender made one of the most critical catches of the night for the Patriots: a leaping interception by Rob Ninkovich, their nimble defensive end.

It thwarted a promising Houston drive. It resulted, six plays later, in a New England touchdown. That score turned an 11-point lead that was in jeopardy into an 18-point advantage that soon ballooned to 25.

A fourth-quarter surge by the Texans obscured the comprehensive nature of New England's 41-28 divisional-round victory, which set up a rematch of last year's AFC championship game. On Sunday, New England will host the Baltimore Ravens, who came within a shanked field goal of winning here last year, and who spoiled what would have been a captivating matchup of quarterback superstars — Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning — with an exhilarating victory Saturday in Denver.

Baltimore's double-overtime victory triggered a weekend of fantastic finishes and electrifying performances, a prelude to the reliable numbing dominance of the Patriots. They rushed for 122 yards. Their running backs, Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley, combined for four touchdowns. Brady completed 25 of 40 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns, all without Danny Woodhead (thumb) and Rob Gronkowski (left forearm), who were injured early in the first quarter and did not return.

Gronkowski is expected to miss the rest of the playoffs. "It's hard to replace a player like him; he's a freak of nature," his fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez said.

Returning to the same stadium where New England humbled them by 28 points on Dec. 10, the Texans escaped embarrassment for only so long.

Houston scored 10 points in the final 75 seconds before halftime to draw within 17-13. After Brady directed a 69-yard scoring drive to open the third quarter, capped by an 8-yard run by Ridley, the Texans were in position to slice into the Patriots' lead after marching from their 5 to the New England 37. Then Ninkovich jumped, and down went the Texans.

Houston, in essence, aspired to emulate the 2010 New York Jets, who stampeded into Gillette that postseason and avenged a 42-point humiliation. For the Texans, the loss to New England precipitated a funk that cost them the No. 1 seed in the AFC, a first-round bye and home-field advantage. It cast them as underdogs or, worse, as pretenders.

Although they were not directly inspired by precedent, the Texans did feature elements of that Jets team of two years ago, elements necessary to topple New England: a dynamic, clock-controlling running game and a ferocious defense with a pass rush capable of rattling Brady. At least, in theory.

If not for Danieal Manning, the Texans would have been embarrassed again in the first half. His 94-yard return on the opening kickoff set up a field goal by Shayne Graham. His 35-yard return late in the second quarter, compounded by a 15-yard penalty on New England, set up a five-play scoring drive capped by Arian Foster's 1-yard run.

On that possession, Houston gained 47 yards. Foster rushed for all of them. Foster, whose streak of 100-yard rushing games in the postseason ended at three, was so amused by a Boston Globe column last week mocking the Texans, calling them "tomato cans" and "frauds," that he turned an excerpt into his avatar on Twitter.

The Texans thrive when Foster does, creating passing opportunities for Matt Schaub, their great variable. Capable of matching Brady, Schaub, like so many others, struggled to keep up with him.

As he had in their previous meeting, Brady dissected the Texans' secondary, fulfilling a modest prediction issued earlier in the week by his coach, Bill Belichick: "You don't win a war by digging a foxhole and sitting in it. You've got to go out there and attack."

So Brady and the Patriots did. Over the middle, in the flat, down the sideline. Hernandez, Vereen, Wes Welker. Definitely Welker.

The Patriots derive motivation from curious sources. For one, their inactivity. By playing last week, Houston had already won. New England, after earning a bye, had not. "I guess that's our chip," linebacker Jerod Mayo said.

But also, in Welker's case, the truth. Wade Phillips, the Texans' defensive coordinator, called Welker "a good player, but he's not that big or a real athletic guy." Nothing about that assessment was false, inaccurate or even unfair. And yet New England unleashed a game plan that, even more than most weeks, seemed intent on proving how a good, small, moderately athletic receiver can ruin his opponent's playoff hopes.

Brady threw 10 of his 24 first-half passes toward Welker, who caught six, for 120 yards, including 47 on a brilliant grab along the New England sideline. On the next play, Brady connected with Vereen for an 8-yard touchdown, extending the Patriots' lead to 17-3.

Schaub had not thrown a touchdown pass since the first quarter of Week 15. The streak ended on a 23-yard catch by DeVier Posey with 11:35 remaining. That cut the Patriots' lead to 38-20, a cosmetic enhancement of a game lost much earlier.

Their next one will be a rematch, of last year's title game but also of a Week 3 meeting between New England and Baltimore last fall. The Ravens won on that day, on a field goal as time expired.

"These are the two teams that deserved to be in the AFC championship," Mayo said.